


Scout's Honor

by stevesherdaddynow



Series: Promises, Promises [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bonding, F/M, Hospitals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-30 11:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stevesherdaddynow/pseuds/stevesherdaddynow
Summary: Reader has to spend the night in the hospital for observation, and after Hopper takes her statement and leaves, she winds up bonding a bit more with her personal hit squad.





	Scout's Honor

After your tests are done, the doctor wheels you into a room where a nurse is waiting to help you into the bed. You sigh, realizing this means you did, in fact, manage to mess up your ribs again with the fall. As the nurse puts in the IV, you ask the doctor if he can go out to the waiting room to get Chief Hopper and your friends. He agrees, and a few minutes after the nurse leaves you, the group enters the room.

Steve pulls up the chair at the right side of your bed, threading his fingers through yours and giving your hand a reassuring squeeze. Robin and Nancy each hop up on the foot of the bed, and Jonathan stands at Nancy’s side. Hopper drags the remaining chair over to your left side and pats your hand before pulling out his steno pad.

A chill runs down your spine when you realize how familiar this all feels, and Hopper and Steve must both recognize it in your eyes, because they each squeeze your hand. Hopper puts the notepad on the bed so that he can keep his hand on yours, and looks up at you. “Whenever you’re ready, kiddo,” he says, voice gentle and soothing.

You detail the events of the last four weeks, telling Hopper everything you can think of that could be related. You tell him about the stares and the whispers, about the few teachers you overheard who had joined the rabble in saying you must have made some of it up, about the graffiti on your locker that had become permanent, about the rotting things left behind, about how nobody would talk to you except for the four in the room right now. When you get to the events of today, and how it all started with Carol maybe tripping you and leading up to someone shoving you from behind to the raucous laughter of the rest of the student body, Hopper is squeezing your hand so firmly it borders on painful.

“Since you fell forward, I suppose it’s safe to assume you didn’t see the person who pushed you, did you, sweetheart?” he asks, putting his pen down to drag a hand down his face. When you shake your head, he looks toward everyone else. “Did any of you see it?”

Nancy looks apologetic and shakes her head. “Steve and I turned the corner as she was already falling, and whoever had done it had moved fast enough away from her that there wasn’t any way to pick them out of the crowd. Jonathan and Robin were behind us, so there’s no way they saw it either.”

“And the whole crowd around her were Tommy and Carol’s idiot group of friends, so even if someone else in the hall saw it happen, nobody’s going to rat anyone out,” Robin says angrily. You nudge her thigh with your foot, hoping she understands the gesture to mean that you don’t blame any of them. She doesn’t look at you, but she pats your ankle in return, so you think she does.

Hopper sighs again and squeezes your hand before letting go and standing up. “Well, I’ll see what I can do with what we’ve got. Are there any teachers who might corroborate anything you’ve told me?” he asks.

Robin and Jonathan both nod, and list off the teachers they have that you don’t who have let them leave early sometimes so they could escort you to and from classes on your rough days; Hopper takes down the names and nods. He leans over and kisses your forehead again before smoothing back your hair. “Next time, you call me as _soon_ as something happens, kiddo. Got that?” When you nod, he smiles sadly and straightens up. “I’ll be back later to check on you; Doc says they’re keeping you overnight for observation, just to be safe. I called Joyce to let her know, so the kids might swing by sometime, too.”

When he leaves, Jonathan plops down in the now-vacant chair, and takes up Hopper’s job of holding your other hand. You huff out a laugh and look at Nancy, who shrugs and rolls her eyes playfully at you. “Men,” Robin whispers, and the three of you burst out in laughter.

Steve and Jonathan fake indignation before laughing along with you. “I’m sorry,” you say, squeezing both of their hands. “It’s cute that you guys think I need constant coddling like this.”

Jonathan and Steve both snort, and Jonathan looks at you and says, “If we thought you needed coddling, we never would have let you go back to school at all.”

“Yeah,” Steve agrees. “We’re holding your hands for _us_. See, if we don’t sit here and hold your hands, we might go and do something stupid with our hands - ”

“Like use them to rough up Tommy’s face - ” Jonathan cuts in,

“Right, or, I dunno, use them to hold a bat loaded with nails to take a few swipes at Carol’s car,” Steve adds.

“So, you see, you’re doing _us_ a favor here,” Jonathan finishes. “That’s all. No pity parties here, promise.”

“Yep,” Steve says, holding up his free hand. “Scout’s honor.”

By the time they finish you don’t know what to say, overwhelmed with how loved you feel. You pull your hands free from them to ruffle the hair on both of their heads, and smile at each of them warmly. “Thanks, guys,” you whisper; when they both reach for your hands again, you don’t try to stop them, and you find yourself smiling fondly while Robin and Nancy start offering things the boys could do with their hands to mess with Tommy, Carol, and their whole group. Personal hit squad, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah. We've gone full series. Whoops.


End file.
